Copyright Arkansas Online
FAYETTEVILLE -- While a trip to No. 22 Michigan State is less than a week away for the No. 14 University of Arkansas men's basketball team, the Razorbacks will start the season at 6 p.m. Monday against Southern at Walton Arena. "We're taking this just as seriously as any other game," Arkansas forward Nick Pringle said Friday. "They won their league last year. They're supposed to win this year. Every win is going to count for us this year. That's the type of team that will shock a lot of people at the end of the year." Arkansas is coming off a pair of exhibition wins: 89-61 against Cincinnati at home Oct. 24 and 99-75 at Memphis on Oct. 27. Freshman guard Meleek Thomas, a 5-star recruit coming out of high school, emerged as the leading scorer both nights with a combined 41 points on 6-of-13 three-point shooting. Thomas and fellow 5-star freshman Darius Acuff Jr. looked college-ready in the practice runs, though they will be tested early in Coach John Calipari's intentionally packed nonconference schedule. After Michigan State, Arkansas will play No. 6 Duke on Nov. 27 in Chicago, No. 11 Louisville on Dec. 3 at Walton Arena, No. 10 Texas Tech on Dec. 13 in Dallas and No. 2 Houston on Dec. 20 in Newark, N.J. Arkansas then welcomes No. 18 Tennessee on Jan. 3 for the start of the league play. The Hogs are one of six preseason-ranked SEC teams, behind No. 3 Florida and No. 9 Kentucky and ahead of No. 15 Alabama, Tennessee and No. 20 Auburn. The Razorbacks started off 0-5 in SEC play last season in Calipari's first year, then went 8-5 from that point to nab a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They picked up key wins along the way at No. 12 Kentucky in Calipari's return to Rupp Arena, plus No. 15 Missouri and No. 25 Mississippi State at Walton Arena. Arkansas made a run to the Sweet 16 in San Francisco and lost 85-83 in overtime to Texas Tech to finish the season at 22-14. "We've got a bunch of good guys again, just like we had last year," Calipari said Oct. 24. "We were 0-5. If we did not have good guys, we would have never got through it. We had good guys. We had our two leading scorers go down. If we did not have good guys who were backing up other guys ... we would have never thrived the way we did. We didn't just survive. We thrived." Arkansas replaced the losses of starting guards Boogie Fland and Johnell Davis, plus forwards Adou Thiero, Zvonimir Ivisic and Jonas Aidoo. In the preseason, Thomas and Acuff paired with returning junior D.J. Wagner in the backcourt. Pringle, a South Carolina transfer, and Malique Ewin, a Florida State transfer, shared frontcourt minutes with returner Trevon Brazile. Karter Knox and Billy Richmond III are a pair of returning sophomores on the wing. Pringle is a veteran that was on Alabama's roster for its Final Four run two seasons ago. "Complacency is one of the words that I use a lot just with the group of guys we have," Pringle said. "We're kind of young, but we have some older pieces that haven't really won a lot, so none of us really want to be complacent. We're all hungry. We all want to showcase how good this team really can be. I just love the transparency and honesty that (Calipari) has with us. So he keeps us going. He lets us know how good we are, but he never lets us slack off. Never." Arkansas is 2-0 against Southern at Walton Arena and 1-0 in Pine Bluff. Monday's game will mark the second time the Razorbacks have hosted the Jaguars in a season opener. They won 86-68 in the 2015-16 season, which started about a week and a half later than this year's start date. The last meeting was a 79-44 Arkansas win in Fayetteville in former coach Eric Musselman's second season. Calipari will continue the trend. The Hogs shouldn't have trouble muscling past Southern but will eventually encounter more physical teams, especially in the SEC, which sent a record 14 teams to last year's NCAA Tournament. Arkansas was whistled for eight quick fouls as its deficit grew to 15 points in the first half of the exhibition game at Memphis. That topic has been an early talking point for Calipari. "I told my whole team, 'Stop talking to the officials, those were SEC officials and you're going to talk to them?' " Calipari said Oct. 27. "They're not going to give you one call in our league. Shut your mouth and play. And if they're being physical, how about you be physical? If they're trying to force their will on you, you force your will on them." Calipari enters this season 23 Division I wins away from 900, so he is likely another trip to the NCAA Tournament away from that milestone. Matt Byrne is the Bob Holt Razorback Reporter, named in honor of the longtime reporter who covered University of Arkansas sports. This position is funded by the ADG Community Journalism Project.
